A Shot of Gasoline *Billy Hargrove*

Chapter Eight

For the first time since I had moved to Hawkins, I felt utterly alone. Steve was too pissed to even look at me, and Billy skipped school the day after our fight. He was dropping off Max when I walked by. Neither of them said anything to me, but Max gave me a sad smile. Billy just stared at me, revving his engine until everyone in the parking lot was looking at us. Then he sped away, nearly hitting me as he passed.

It felt like the day would never end. My attention in all of my classes was so bad that most of my teachers pulled me to the side after class to ask if I was okay. I even caught Nancy looking at me a few times, as if she wanted to talk to me but was afraid Steve would start shunning her, too. I didn't blame her for not taking the chances.

To no surprise of mine, I saw Tommy H. and Carol watching me all day. They would smile and ask where Billy was. I wasn't sure if they knew things were over between us or if they had just seen what happened in the parking lot and knew he was pissed at me. But it made me want to hit them. Damnit, I was so angry at everyone.

It was Friday and the thought of staying home alone all weekend was awful. So I asked around to see if anyone was having a party, to which there was, unsurprisingly, a resounding yes. Because what else was there to do in Hawkins except fight monsters and get drunk?

And get drunk, I did. For once I didn't stand in the background. I drank. I danced. I drank some more. And with every passing minute, I was a little less angry at the world. Until Billy showed up. I should have known.

"This is a sad sight," he whispered in my ear.

"Fuck you, Hargrove," I slurred.

"Oh, now that's all you want." He laughed, taking my cup from my hand and finishing it. "I think you've had enough."

I took my cup back and stormed off to refill it. The next time I saw him, he had some girl in his lap and was making out with her. He glanced at me repeatedly between kisses. I was tempted to puke on the both of them.

I don't remember the rest of the night. But when morning came I found myself awaking in a familiar room. Steve's. After convincing myself that I only had a hangover and wasn't, in fact, dying, I made my way downstairs.

Steve was sitting in front of the TV. The volume was down low and the splitting pain in my head didn't get any worse. I laid down on the couch and put my head in his lap and cried. Then I told him everything.

For his part, he never said 'I told you so.' He just wiped my tears, held me in his arms, and gave me aspirin.

Apparently someone had called him at two in the morning to say I had been crying in a closet for the past three hours and had finally passed out. I could have died of embarrassment. But at least I had Steve back.

"Can I kick his ass now?" he asked. I told him I appreciated the offer, but it'd just be easier to throw Billy off a cliff. "I can arrange that," Steve said and I finally laughed.

"I'm so sorry," I said.

"Hey, hey, you have nothing to be sorry about." Steve wiped away a stray tear. "You obviously saw something good in him. You're not an idiot. I'm just sorry it wasn't enough to make things work." He wrapped me in a hug.

We spent the entire weekend outside. We walked around town, Steve telling me about how things were going with Nancy, me trying to avoid think about Billy and failing miserably.

"What did Billy say to you at that party?" I asked, suddenly. "When you tried to punch him."

"Oh, god, that? Why are you thinking about that? Just forget about him." I gave him a stern look and he caved. "Basically that I should have slept with you when I had the chance, because... No one would be able to satisfy you after he was done with you."

Billy was a cocky asshole, but maybe he was right. There was something incredibly intoxicating about him and I felt like I was going through withdrawal without him.

"Whatever," I said. "He's just a mullet in a denim jacket."

Steve laughed so hard I thought he was going to asphyxiate. When he finally pulled himself together, he draped an arm over my shoulder. "I'm really sorry that dick hurt you, but I'm also really glad to have my best friend back." He kissed me on the top of the head and we continued on.

*

Monday was rough. Some people had witnessed my drunken crying at the party and I constantly heard about it. Word also spread like wildfire that Billy and I were no longer... whatever we had been.

It didn't help that he showed up still in a rage. As I was putting my bag into my locker, Billy stormed up to me with a fistful of my stuff. He threw everything in my locker and slammed the door, never saying a word to me.

I was too shocked to realize not everything had made it into my locker, and a very risqué pair of panties had fallen to the floor at my feet. Steve snatched them from the floor and shoved them in his pocket before too many people caught a glimpse. His face was beat red until I opened my locker again and he was able to throw them in.

"I'm gonna kick his ass," Steve said at lunch.

"Again, I appreciate the offer, but you can't win, Steve. And he's fucking terrifying when he's angry."